Accused Elsmere bomber was out on bail after death threat

Several law enforcement agencies are assisting Elsmere Police in an incident in the 700 block of Baltimore Avenue. 3/12/18
John J. Jankowski Jr. & Damian Giletto

Mark Consiglio, 48, of Elsmere, has been charged with three counts of manufacturing, possession and use of an explosive device after a blast broke a window of a Cypress Avenue residence in Elsmere.(Photo: Office of the Delaware State Fire Marshal)

The man police say detonated a bomb in the yard of an Elsmere home Monday was free on bail for threatening to "put a bullet" in the head of his estranged wife a month earlier, according to court documents.

Police charged Elsmere resident Mark J. Consiglio, 48, with three counts of manufacturing, possession and use of an explosive device as well as numerous weapons charges after the pipe-bomb blast shortly after midnight Monday.

Before the explosion, Consiglio was heard banging on the door of the Cypress Avenue home and yelling, "come out, stop hiding," according to court records. The residence is home to his estranged wife's mother and brother, court records state.

The blast broke a window of the home shortly after midnight. Nobody was injured.

After the blast, police found Consiglio riding a bike down Kirkwood Highway and he told police he was "getting cardio." He had been identified by a resident of the Cypress Avenue home as the bomber and was arrested, according to court documents.

He told police he was in the area at the time of the blast but denied entering the yard, court documents state.

Police then went to his Baltimore Avenue home to check on the welfare of his 9-year-old daughter.

Inside, they found two handguns, a compound bow, a crossbow, a nightstick, brass knuckles, a samurai sword and several knives with blades ranging from six to 10 inches, according to court documents. They also found ammunition and arrows. They also found a homemade gun on a couch in sight of Consiglio's daughter, court records state.

Police bomb specialists combed Consiglio's residence, which is less than a mile away from the Cypress Avenue home, Monday afternoon. Inside, they discovered three "explosive devices" similar to the bomb detonated earlier, police said.

Investigators found a pipe bomb about 20 feet from the home’s rear entrance, according to court documents.

The device was about 4 inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter, wrapped in black tape and capped with silver tape on each end, according to the documents. It already had been detonated, according to the documents.

Investigators found another, slightly smaller and undetonated bomb under a dining room table, according to court documents. With it were several 12 gauge shotgun shells that had been cut open so the gunpowder could be harvested, according to court documents.

That gunpowder was used to make the pipe bombs. Other items found in the home used to make the bombs, according to court documents, included: ball bearings, BBs, duct tape, Teflon pipe tape and model rocket engine cases.

As of Tuesday afternoon, police had said nothing about the potential motivation for the Cypress Avenue home blast.

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Law enforcement agencies investigate a home that is believed to be related to an explosion that went off shortly after midnight Monday in Elsmere.(Photo: Jerry Habraken, The News Journal)

Ivone said he believes Consiglio was trying to frighten his family. He said his sister wasn't home at the time of the bombing.

In February, Consiglio left the woman a voicemail threatening to kill her and "put a bullet in" her head, according to an affidavit outlining cause for his arrest. She told police she feared he would act on the threat, the document states.

He told an officer he "snapped on her because she was being a bad mother," the affidavit states. He was charged with terroristic threatening, a misdemeanor punishable with up to a $2,500 fine and community service.

It is unclear if Consiglio and the woman were legally married at the time.

Court records filed in February state Consiglio and the woman were married but had been separated since October 2017.

He was ordered not to have contact with the woman and was released on $500 unsecured bail, court records state.

The New Castle County Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit currently is assisting the Elsmere Police Department. The details of the incident to which they are responding are not yet clear.
John Jankowski

The New Castle County Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit currently is assisting the Elsmere Police Department. The details of the incident to which they are responding are not yet clear.
John Jankowski

The New Castle County Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit currently is assisting the Elsmere Police Department. The details of the incident to which they are responding are not yet clear.
John J. Jankowski Jr., Special to The News Journal

The New Castle County Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit currently is assisting the Elsmere Police Department. The details of the incident to which they are responding are not yet clear.
John J. Jankowski Jr., Special to The News Journal

The New Castle County Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit currently is assisting the Elsmere Police Department. The details of the incident to which they are responding are not yet clear.
John J. Jankowski Jr., Special to The News Journal

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Through the past 25 years, Consiglio has been arrested several times for threats, assaults and harassment.

He pleaded guilty in 2004 and 2009 to separate charges of terroristic threatening. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to assault charges, resisting arrest and offensive touching.

In 2013, two counts of assault were dropped when he pleaded guilty to a weapons charge.

His record also includes drug charges. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to charges of obtaining a controlled substance after being charged with several counts of forgery and obtaining a controlled substance.

Consiglio also pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in 2006 and fictitious or canceled registration in 2015.

His record also includes sex charges. In 1991, he pleaded guilty to for unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual contact and a charge of unlawful sexual penetration was dropped.

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Law enforcement agencies investigate a home that is believed to be related to an explosion that went off shortly after midnight Monday in Elsmere.(Photo: Jerry Habraken, The News Journal)

He's been arrested several more times in instances where charges were dropped by prosecutors, dismissed by the court or he was acquitted by a jury.

Those cases include multiple accusations of assault and terroristic threatening as well as two strangulation charges. He's also faced but not been convicted of charges including harassment, disorderly conduct, reckless endangering and theft.

In some cases, the court docket indicates prosecutors dropped cases because of the attitude of the victim or witness. In other cases, no cause was clear in the case docket.

In the current case, Consiglio is charged with more than a dozen weapons infractions, criminal trespassing, violating his bond and endangering the welfare of his daughter in addition to the bomb charges, court records state.